Thanks to all that responded, but I am no closer to an answer.

> If this were some sort of trick question, my first guess as to an answer
> would be that for some reason the queen cage was left in the colony with
the
> open end facing to the ground.  She would never get out, as insects in
> general, and bees especially, never go down, only up!!

Well, that is true, but if it were universally true, queens would never
emerge from their cells.  Over the years, we have mounted the cages (many
varieties) in every conceivable position, and had the same luck with the
queens coming out -- or not.

> When hiving package bees in warm weather, it is perfectly acceptable to
> shake most of the bees into the hive, shake the queen into the center of
the
> cluster, replace frames and cover up as quickly as possible.  Works just
> fine!

Yup, but I'm not talking about packages here, I am referring to re-queening
or queens introduced to splits.  Out of almost every batch (hundreds of
queens), we always find a queen or two that is just running around in her
cage with the entrance hole (pencil size) wide open and with no
obstructions.  (Even Auzzie queens have been known to do that here in
Alberta).

You are right about the queens liking to go up, though.  We don't use the
candy for release, we use marshmallow, since marshmallow is easy to find
and is not as likely to get rock hard the way queen candy gets in this dry
country.  When putting in the marshmallow, if the cage is held hole up,
queens come out the hole in a jiffy.

For more on our adventures with queens and more, visit my site (below).

allen
http://www.internode.net/honeybee/diary/